Dead to Rights to return this year

Here's one franchise revival we didn't expect to see in a recession year - Namco Bandai is making a new Dead to Rights game for a release in the fourth quarter of 2009.

According to a preview in the US official PlayStation mag - seen by 1UP - the latest in the profoundly mediocre action series about one maverick cop and his dog is in development for PS3. A 360 version seems like a safe bet, too.

The developer is the UK's Volatile Games, a division of Blitz, which made the so-so Reservoir Dogs back in 2006. Called simply Dead to Rights, the new game will not be a sequel but a "new beginning" in the adventures of Jack Slate and Shadow the dog.

It's still a third-person shooter, only with more hand-to-hand combat. In what amounts to an interesting development as far as this particular news story goes, Shadow will be a stray instead of a trained police dog, but still a useful ally in a scrap.

1up reports a "sort of Jason Bourne-style" look to the game. More when we have it.